He was preparing to leave Somalia with his pregnant wife. Weeks later, he was shot dead in the street.
A young rickshaw driver who had recently won the U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery was shot and killed late Sunday in Mogadishu, police and relatives said, abruptly ending his plans to migrate to the United States with his pregnant wife.
The victim, Abdirisaq Abukar Mohamed, was driving his three-wheeled motorized rickshaw in the Dayniile district when armed men opened fire, striking him in the chest and throat and killing him at the scene, according to family members. He was pronounced dead shortly afterward.
Somali police said a suspect has been arrested and an investigation is underway. In a statement posted on Facebook, Dayniile district police said officers detained Abdullaahi Ahmed Geedi in connection with the killing and that he will be transferred to court. Authorities have not disclosed a motive, and it remains unclear whether the shooting was targeted or random.
Abdirisaq’s wife, Asho Abdi Mohamed, said she learned of her husband’s death through a phone call placed from his mobile phone minutes after the shooting.
“Someone answered his phone and contacted the last person he had called, saying the owner of the phone had been killed,” she said. “That person then reached us, and we went to the area and confirmed his death.”
His body remains at the morgue of Mogadishu’s Erdogan Hospital, formerly Digfeer Hospital. Relatives said the family has delayed burial until those responsible are fully identified and brought before the courts.
“As long as there is uncertainty about who carried out the killing, the family has decided not to bury him,” said Yusuf Absuge, a relative. “Anyone involved must be held accountable.”
Abdirisaq and his wife were among this year’s recipients of the U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery, commonly known as the green card lottery. They applied in 2024 and were notified of their selection in May. Asho said she submitted the application and included her husband as her spouse, resulting in both being selected.
The couple had been scheduled to attend their visa interview earlier this month at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok but postponed it until February 2026 because Asho is in the final month of pregnancy. Abdirisaq was killed before the rescheduled appointment.
Asked whether she plans to continue the immigration process alone, Asho said her immediate focus is grieving.
Abdirisaq earned a living as a rickshaw driver, a common and often precarious form of transport in Mogadishu. He also held a diploma in laboratory science, completed in 2023, balancing his studies with work. The couple married in July 2024 and were expecting their first child.
In recent years, a number of rickshaw drivers—mostly young men—have been killed in Mogadishu under unclear circumstances, fueling concerns about the safety of informal transport workers in the capital. Police said their criminal investigations unit continues to examine the circumstances surrounding Abdirisaq’s death.
